The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1887-08-04
NORTHWESTERN LAND:


AT great distance from markets Il
sequestered regions, removed from;
every social, religious and education.
al privilege, may still be found FREQ
fertile lands of good quality. So ran
id is the march of progress that MANY
of these in a short time will be in easy
reach of new railroads. But as ono
cannot forsee with certainly the course
Of such improvements, it is best not
to risk too much in expectation of fu-
ture conveniences. Four Immediate
avenues for obtaining desirable lands
remain to tho emigrant. /. The rail.
roads yet possess a vast body offirst.
class territory, which is offered for
sale at low prices and long time. 2.
Countless quarter-sections are held
by men who acquired them Under pre-.
emption or tree-culture rights; for
speculative purposes merchants;
clerks, railway employees, carpen:
tiers and oil classes of city
residents. The increasing vigilanca
of the authorities and tho
growing difficulty of ''proving up" such
Claims have caused general alarm
among the myriad holders who have
not yet attempted to acquire d pat
ent and who become daily more dis
posed to sci. out their improvements
for whatever they can get: Cases are
by no means rare wheresu pre-emp.
tors have lately rclinquished first
class manifestations within ten miles
of railway stations, for q considera-
ton from $25 to $50, transferring
their rights to the new conner. AS
there are all through the northwest
great quantities of land still held OH
this uncertain tenure, which the in:
designations OF government render
daily more hazardous, there will be
abundant opportunities to pick them
up. A bonafide settler, succeed
Ing to such property. would. OF
course, have no trouble in making
proof and obtaining title. The 'front.'
Ter also abounds III rest
less characters who after few
years in place are eager to move on,
and who having obtained deed for q
quarter section will sell out below the
market price of rail. DAD land. Still
another class, merchants dcluded into
the belief that q ''ranche'' can be
made q valuable business adjunct and
who have taken up and attempted to
run one, may bs found in numbers
dingustcd :::1 ready to sell out low.
Yet another class is common enough
the discontinued and homesick,
lacking in courage, incapable of good
management or for varied reasons
finding frontier life a failure, will sell
improved farms below cost. If one
has money this is the best way to &C.
quire q favorable position and imme-
diate income. In short, the North
west is still in many places, covering
thousand of miles OF fine country, in
a,state of chaos, where men are COM
ing and going, restless and uneasy,
and wherein a visitor with money
who will take time to search and act
promptly when he finds what be
wants, will have no trouble in strik-
Ing a good bargain. g. If one has no
money to invest as above, but must
of necessity acquire land gratis and is
bent on being near the railway, his
only course is to ''jump" deserted or
spurious claims.
The term jump has fallen into dis
repute in the East, as implying viola
ton of another's rights. In the West
it is used In two senses. 1t has this
sinister and unpopular significance,
and has also a merely technical sense
which imputes no discredit. When q
finds a claim whose original
occupant has disappeared, and on
which the improvements required by
law have been omitted, or a claim
held dy a nonresident for speculation
only on such tlimsy pretexts OF im-
provement rs would work forfeiture if
brought to test, he can file q contest
and by proving such vacancy or
illegal holding become possessor OF the
land. This also is called dumping"
bnt is regarded justifable, and an act
ual settler thus displacing an alien
holder is welcomed and ap-
proved. Such opportunities abound
on the borders, but are
hard for q stranger to find unless
he makes q systematic study of his
selected locality. Everywhere are
great bodies of apparently vacant
land, and one inquiring is told that
such and such q quarter Is held as a
by All honest clerk in
town who visits it regularly and is
improvements enough to hold
it rightful|y. The next was taken up
under soldiers scrip and is decided.
The next is tree culture, and 80 on.
All appears to be invincibly possessed.
But II one will look over the region
carefully, search out such quarters as
appear most neglected and are pre-
ferable for his purposes, and then Wis
it every settler within five miles and
make inquiry, he would soon find out
the real facts and may learn that one
OF these claims is held illegally and
could be properly contested. His
original informant may have tried
to mislead through desire to get
the property himself or with intent
to hide it for the benefit of some rel
alive, or from personal dislike to the
applicant. Nothing but u thorough
hunt will une;lrth these opportunities
In time nll the body OF land now
seemingly taken up which the stran-
ger hurrles past will be thus examined
and tested, and many a hidden quar-
ter of royal Fertility pass into posses
sion of painstaklng men. Let no one,
however, suppose that this process of
gaining land can be easily abused.
Contest should be attempted only
where it is clearly just,fable, or the
Jumper will find the neighborhood
hostile and the effort to get possession
fraught with difficulties and expense.
The Government leans toward Justice,
and will not knowingly work hard
ship to any settler who can establish
good intentions and who has been
driven by misfortunes into temporary
delinquency. Fourth, the good old
fashioned way is still open, and is as
likely to be successful now as in the
past. The vigorous and independent
emigrant can go beyond the surveys
and squat in Us choice - valley a.
he pleases, with every likelihood that
il ho complies promptly with the laws
when survey is made he will come into
title to his quarter-sec-
ton, as 80 many of our fOrefathers